The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a sterile "bag-in-a-box" filling and discharge system to enable the packaging, transportation, storage and utilization of fluid products such as pasteurized fruit juices and products, as well as yogurt and like materials of relatively high viscosity which must be handled under aseptic conditions.
Efforts have been made in the past to develop transportable, rust free stainless steel containers, commonly known as fluid contents containers, in which the fluid materials can be directly introduced. Such containers typically are of considerable size and may amount to 25 gallons and up or, expressed in terms of liters, containers of 100 to 1000 liters. However, these stainless steel containers are quite expensive and require a series of peripheral apparatus which must be repeatedly sterilized thereby adding to the cost of such systems. The prior art is familiar with flexible bulk bags in rigid holders or bins; i.e., "bag-in-a-box" technology, especially for the containerization of various food and pharmaceutical products. Typically such items as fruit juices, fruit based yogurt and the like are shipped in these boxes 75 which consist of an aseptic bag in a rigid frame work or container. The rigid container or "box" can be made of a suitable plastic such as polyethylene, polypropylene or the like. Also, cardboard or paper board boxes can be used. The use of the so called "bag-in-box" technology is the subject of a number of prior art publications such as shown in European patent application 0190757, German patent 35 03 916, German OLS 35 34 810 and OLS 36 15 063.
At present, the filling of such aseptic bags is accomplished by utilizing expensive auxiliary filling equipment. After filling, the containers can be stored aseptically with little or no refrigeration for an extended period of time. It is customary at the present time to accomplish dispensing of the bag contents by emptying the entire contents of the bag or utilizing expensive discharge equipment to permit reentry while maintaining asepsis of the bag. Normally, the container including the bag must remain attached to the unloading device until all the required product has been discharged.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome some of the problems associated with prior art apparatus and to facilitate the loading and unloading of sterilized and aseptic containers.